


goodbye, blue sky

by lieasinlee



Category: Persona 4, Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: F/F, kind of, plot of p5 w/ p4 characters, spoilers for 12/24
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2020-10-16 22:10:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20610161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lieasinlee/pseuds/lieasinlee
Summary: On December 24th, 2016, the sky bleeds red.





	goodbye, blue sky

_Riiing. Riiing. Riiing._

Navy eyes opened at the ringing sensation, the vibration buzzing off of the wooden desk as the alarm-like sound brought her back from unconsciousness. Blinking, she rubbed at her eyes, sighing as she straightened herself—she’d been leaning against the back of an office chair—the blinds of the office pulled down and the lights off, the dark atmosphere adjusting easily to her sleepy eyes as she looked around.

She’d fallen asleep in this damn office. Again.

In this context, ‘again’ was a word to be used lightly, as with Naoto Shirogane, such a situation hardly ever happened—twice, to be precise. The first time was when she started on this case. As a consulting detective, she was often called to cities all across Japan, this certain trip taking her to Iwatodai. As a member of the Shadow Operatives (after all the events of a certain “arena”), she probably should have been excited to meet with SEES again—but no, an exhausting train ride and welcome party organized by Takeba-san had led to her falling asleep at this very desk the night she had arrived.

This accounted for the second time, and she was prepared to punch herself for the failure. Letting out a small groan of both self-admonishment and disappointment in herself, she picked up her phone from where it lay on top of her temporary desk, registering the caller ID: _“scandalous superstar idol ★❀♫”_

The name was one she knew well, perhaps too well, one that appeared in her ‘Recents’ at least once a night; only sometimes did she regret the contact name that her girlfriend had given herself. What with the caller’s tours across Japan and, from time to time, across international borders, Rise Kujikawa was hard-pressed to find time with Naoto Shirogane. Take into account the impossibly unpredictable “schedule” that Naoto took on, which was more of a “40 hours at the least plus overtime” ordeal, and the white-space in their respective calendars was practically non-existent.

One phone call a night, they had agreed. To keep in touch as Risette drowned herself in practice and concerts and interviews while the (former) Detective Prince drowned herself in meetings and investigations and reports, one phone call a night.

Her eyes drifted over to the digital clock kept on the desk she’d been stationed at, the neon green _19:17_ raking against her tired mind. When had she fallen asleep? Sanada-kun, currently her police escort, surely would be annoyed by this. Scattered case files littered the top of her desk, a now-cold cup of coffee pairing all of them, evidence of her frustration towards the case that bordered on nonsensical.

“Frustration” was not a word that could normally be associated with Naoto Shirogane. This whole Iwatodai case was starting to get to her.

_Riiing. Riiing. Riiing._

Right, the phone. Clicking on the green “Accept” button, she brought the device up to her ear, leaning back into the chair with a sigh. Her free hand adjusted her signature hat as she spoke into the phone, voice croaking with sleep, “I’ll never get used to that contact title you gave yourself.”

_“Naoto, are you safe?”_

The reply was unexpected, to say the least. Using her free hand to rub the sleep out of her navy eyes, Naoto mumbled into the phone, “What do you mean?”

_“I’ve tried calling you three times, now! Why haven’t you been picking up?”_ Rise’s voice was almost a whine, impatient and yet endearing.

The tone of her girlfriend’s voice managed to get Naoto’s attention, the detective standing up from the chair to cross the room, aiming to turn the lights on. “I was asleep— Rise, are you okay? What’s going on?”

_“Tokyo… it’s…”_ Rise paused for a moment, _“red.”_

Naoto stopped mid-step, questioning if she had heard her correctly. “What?”

_“The sky… it—it’s red; crimson. I— I don’t know how to explain it,”_ her panic was clear on the other end of the line, voice forcefully steady either to convince the detective that she was fine. 

Naoto knew her better than to fall far that. Her hand hit the light-switch, colour returning to the bland room as she spoke, voice calm and low to contrast that of the other line’s. “Rise, calm down. Tell me what’s happening. What do you mean, it’s… red?”

_“It’s almost like it’s bleeding. The rain is… it’s red, that’s all I can describe it as, just… there's skeletal bone things everywhere, and no one seems to be noticing it. I’m watching from our apartment, and everyone seems to be just going along with their daily lives. I—I don’t understand. It feels almost like...”_ Rise’s voice paused, a sharp breathe heard from the static of the phone. A bit of shuffling hit the background noise in Rise’s silence, until after a moment her tone returned, dumbfounded. _“...Naoto My hand— can, it just went in the television.”_

Naoto blinked. That couldn’t be—but it was equally, if not more, imperceptible that Rise would make such a thing up. Her short legs took her to the other side of the office, opening the blinds to the evening sky. The sun had not yet set, positioned above the Iwatodai’s skyline, clouds splashed in pockets above the city. Blue-grey, not red.

_“Naoto, are you still there?”_ Rise said, frantic.

“Yes, I am. Rise, I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean. There is no such ‘red sky’ phenomenon in Iwatodai, and your hand…” Naoto stopped herself. The idea of the TV World existing once more was purely inconceivable, but why would Rise lie about such a thing? Clearing her voice, she began again, “...have you tried contacting Yu-senpai? He should be in Tokyo.”

_“...no. You were the first one I called, Naoto.”_

“I see.” Naoto ignored the way her body heated up, cheeks likely dusted rosy—this wasn’t the time to obsess over such things. “Whatever you do, don’t go into the TV World, if you are truly able to access it. We don’t know if we still have our personas, and even if we do, yours is not adept at fighting enemies.”

_“Okay.”_ Rise spoke, a beat of silence following. The two lingered on the line, unsure of what to do now, as Naoto sat back down and turned on her computer. She typed in the password, one letter at a time—her other hand busy holding her phone up to her ear—opening a search browser and connecting to a Tokyo broadcast. As the page began to load, Rise said, _“Don’t hang up, please.”_

“...If you don’t want me to, never.”

The line murmured back _“Okay.”_ again, a soft sigh following.


End file.
